O. Zelaya Angel

Optical and Electrical Properties of Thin Films of CuS Nanodisks Ensembles Annealed in a Vacuum and Their Photocatalytic Activity

Effects on the optical, electrical, and photocatalytic properties of undoped CuS thin films nanodisks vacuum annealed at different temperatures were investigated. The chemical bath prepared CuS thin films were obtained at 40°C on glass substrates. The grain size of ?nm was computed directly from high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images. The electrical properties were measured by means of both Hall effect at room temperature and dark resistivity as a function of the absolute temperature 100–330?K. The activation energy values were calculated as 0.007, 0.013, and 0.013?eV for 100, 150, and 200°C, respectively. The energy band gap of the films varied in the range of 1.98 up to 2.34?eV. The photocatalytic activity of the CuS thin film was evaluated by employing the degradation of aqueous methylene blue solution in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The CuS sample thin film annealed in vacuum at 150°C exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity in presence of hydrogen peroxide.

How room-humidity during the coating affects the structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 films

TiO2 thin films were obtained on glass slide substrates by the sol–gel technique. The substrates were coated by the immersion-removal method, at a constant withdrawal speed. The TiO2 precursor solution and the substrate were maintained in a closed box with a controlled relative humidity (RH) during the removal of the substrate. The RH was varied in the 30–90% range in steps of 20%. The films were dried and after that sintered in an open atmosphere. The effect of the RH was studied on the structural, optical and photocatalytic properties. The films are polycrystalline with an anatase phase and show a high optical transmission in the UV–Vis range. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the photobleaching of methylene blue in an aqueous solution. The best photocatalytic activity was obtained for the films with 90% RH, this fact is mainly attributed to the highest porosity value obtained for these films.

Au/Te/CdTe/CdS/TCO/Glass Solar Cells with Obtained by Sol-Gel as TCO

An Au/Cu2Te/CdTe/CdS/TCO/glass heterostructure based superstrate solar cells with 2.5 mm2 of area, where the CdTe layer was prepared by means of closed spaced sublimation (CSS) and the CdS by chemical bath, reached an efficiency value of 12.1%. As transparent conductive oxide (TCO), a thin film of cadmium-indium oxide (CdIn2O4:CIO), obtained by sol-gel technique, was used. A systematic optimization of the thermal activation of the CdTe/CdS/CIO central part of the device with a CdCl2 vapor ambient made the conversion efficiency of the Au/Cu2Te/CdTe/CdS/CIO/glass heterostructure reaches 9.94% for the CdTe layer with thickness of 1.8 μm. This efficiency was reached only through an open circuit voltage optimization. A maximum of 12.1% was reached with the established procedure of optimization and when the CdTe layer thickness was increased to 3.1 ± 0.05 μm. The substitution of CIO by commercial ITO provoked in the cell a decrease of from 12.1% to 7.2%, both devices prepared under the same conditions. Starting from these results, we can say that CIO was a better TCO than commercial ITO in our solar cell, with the advantage that CIO was obtained by sol-gel, which is a simple and economical technique.